Australia is to be the first country in world, beside the United States itself, to use the US jamming system in its fighter jets, giving it a considerable boost to air superiority.

Australia is to be the first country in world, beside the United States itself, to use the US jamming system in its fighter jets, giving it a considerable boost to air superiority.

The technology, which was used in the 2011 NATO air campaign to cripple communications and missiles systems in Libya, will be fitted to twelve Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, which the Australian air force will now call “Growlers.”

The upgrades will come in at $1.57 billion and the first fighter jets with the jamming technology will not be available until 2018.

“In my view it's probably one of the most, well the biggest strategic increase in the [Australian Defence Force]'s capability since we ordered the F-111 (in the late 1960s),” said Air Marshal Geoff Brown, according to Reuters.

The deal follows an agreement made last year between the US and Australia for the hosting of 2,500 US Marines in Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia and a key coastal city, giving the US military an important base close to Asian countries – a move that has upset China, but one that seems to have paid off for the Australian air force.